Listener Letters

Air Date: Week of April 5, 2002
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This week we dip into the Living on Earth mailbag to hear what listeners have to say.

Transcript

ROSS: It's Living on Earth. I'm Pippin Ross. How to make the River of Grass flow once more. The restoration of The Everglades is just ahead. But first:

[THEME MUSIC]

ROSS: Time for comments from our listeners. New Hampshire Public Radio listener Charles Terry heard our story about geocaching enthusiasts, who zero in on mini- treasure troves with the help of handheld Global Positioning System units.

"Geocaching was not born after Clinton lifted the GPS ban, as your story stated, " Mr. Terry writes. "It has been popular in Great Britain for quite some time now. Only there, it's called 'letter boxing,' an orienteering sport done with a hand compass and a topographic map. The prize is not some trinket, but the privilege to stamp your logo in a book kept in a metal tube as a sign to other seekers that you found the cache. Walking around trinket trading with a device that tells you exactly where you are is a no-brainer, and just seems so, well, American."

Our story about dilute amounts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products detected in waterways left some listeners with a lingering question. "Your report ended with, 'don't dispose of unwanted drugs down the drain or toilet,'" wrote WBEZ listener Vic Banks in Chicago. "Hey, finish up reporting by telling us what to do with the stuff."

Okay. Here's some suggestions from the folks at the U.S. Geological Survey. They say to discard old drugs as hazardous waste. Most communities designate times when they'll accept things like old paint and cleaning products for disposal. And your local pharmacy may accept expired or unwanted drugs for incineration.

And finally, about our EarthEar recording of migrating geese on a stopover in North Dakota, "Did you check their passports?", asked KQED listener Marc Spear from San Francisco. "I'm curious to know how you were able to tell that the geese, whose vocalizations you broadcast, were Canadian. They could have been American geese traveling to Canada for the summer. Nationality aside, I think you meant to refer to the species 'Canada Geese.'" Mr. Spear is right. The birds, of course, were Canada geese.

We'll take your corrections or kudos on our Listener Line any time at 800-218-9988. That's 800-218-9988. Or write to us at 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Our email address is letters@loe.org. Again, that's letters@loe.org. And, visit our web page at www.loe.org. That's www.loe.org.

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